Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive and one of the world’s wealthiest people, threatened journalist Kara Swisher with prison in a recent post on X.
The clash comes as the midterm elections draw closer, with projections pointing to a potential Democratic “blue wave.” Musk, a prominent ally of Donald Trump, responded angrily after Swisher criticized him online.
Swisher, who launched the High Stakes podcast with former first lady Hillary Clinton last week, made the remarks during an appearance on The Bulwark podcast.
During the discussion, she said Democrats should consider investigating Musk if they win control of both chambers of Congress in November.
Swisher also suggested that Musk might already have faced jail time if Kamala Harris had defeated Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
“Under Kamala Harris, he might be in jail right now, right?” Swisher said. “And that’s not because she’s some avenging fury. It’s because there are a lot of questions around different companies of his.”
She added that federal agencies affected by Musk’s cuts while he led the Department of Government Efficiency could begin examining his various businesses.
Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk lashed out after journalist and Hillary Clinton podcast co-host Kara Swisher criticized him, warning that she could face prison.
Discussing Musk on a podcast, Swisher said: “Under Kamala Harris, he might be in jail right now, right?” She added: “And that’s not because she’s some avenging fury. It’s because there are a lot of questions around different companies of his.”
The world’s first trillionaire took his reaction to Swisher’s comments to social media. Source: @elonmusk/X
Swisher continued: “If Donald Trump loses the Senate, I would be worried if I were him, even though he is so rich.”
“He has a very big sense of fate. And I think it’s coming for him. And real hard.”
Musk soon took his frustration to X, posting: “Live by the sword, die by the sword.”
He followed up with a pointed message: “Sounds like Swisher really wants to go to prison.”
An excerpt of Swisher’s comments had drawn more than 2.4 million views on X. Musk’s response had received roughly 574,000 views by Wednesday night and prompted a wave of reactions.
One user questioned the threat, writing: “Why would he be in jail for? He hasn’t broken the law.”
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Another sought to reassure Musk, posting: “No worries, Kamala is NEVER going to be President.”
Polls indicate that next month’s midterm elections could give Democrats control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Republican leaders, however, have argued that the surveys are skewed and maintain that the party will outperform expectations.
Our News Outlet contacted Swisher for comment.
Swisher launched the High Stakes podcast with Hillary Clinton just last week
Destroyed cars in the courtyard of an apartment block following a Russian attack in Kyiv
Musk has poured more than $276 million into Republican groups as the party faces a challenging environment in advance of the midterm elections.
The development comes as it was reported Musk ordered a reduction in Starlink satellite services for Ukraine even as the tech billionaire claimed any limits on the communications system would ultimately have come from the president.
Musk capped the speed at which Ukrainian equipment could connect to the system, making some of Kyiv’s drones useless, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Kyiv has accused Washington of deliberately slowing speeds at which Starshield – a Starlink satellite network for national security services – can be used effectively, a charge denied last week by US President Donald Trump.
Musk had previously said that ‘any limits on speed or usage’ of Starshield systems were ‘decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS’, referring to Mr Trump.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Washington had no prior knowledge of the slowdown.
‘The President has nothing to do with the decisions that are made by Starlink and Starshield and by Mr Musk,’ Mr Rubio said during his trip to India.
‘That’s a private company; the President doesn’t run that company and can’t direct that company to do anything… I’m telling you, there was no foreknowledge.’
On Tuesday, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the Pentagon had not directed any changes to Starshield, saying: ‘We haven’t pulled anything back.’
